A new framework for understanding organisational project management through the PMO

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical contribution to the study of organisational project management and of the project management office (PMO). The PMO should no longer be considered an isolated island within an organisation. It is our premise that the PMO is part of a network of complex relations that links strategy, projects and structures and thus is a point of entry into the organisation to study the foundations of organisational project management. We argue that the study of such complex relationships within an organisation should turn away from the traditional positivist approach to a new conceptual framework. The proposed theoretical framework draws from three complementary fields – innovation, sociology and organisational theory – to form an innovative understanding of the PMO and organisational project management.